The once-sleepy Overberg town of Caledon has experienced a purple-hued revival as young job seekers join the TFG Prestige clothing factory’s learnership programme in their hundreds, demonstrating this Youth Day that the future of rural South African youth could be in clothing.
From humble beginnings in 2008 starting as a privately owned company with eight workers operating in a modest factory, the Prestige Clothing factory in Caledon has expanded rapidly over the past 17 years to become the biggest employer in town. This growth was accelerated after being acquired by TFG in 2012 with a major milestone being achieved in 2016 when TFG built a state-of-the-art greenfield factory ensuring Prestige Caledon was housed in a world-class facility ready for future growth.
The factory has absorbed so much of the town’s available skills that it has begun recruiting from other towns in the Overberg region and as far afield as the coastal town of Hermanus, subsidising transport so that the 400 or so workers who commute daily can do so affordably.
TFG is a major driver of youth employment and skills development. With an investment of R150-million in youth development programmes in the past financial year, TFG has created over 2 700 youth workplace opportunities through Learnerships, Apprenticeships and Internship as well as through the YES initiative across its factories, stores and Head Office.
“We are dedicated to strengthening the local industry and nurturing the next generation of leaders in the textile and manufacturing sector. This commitment lies at the heart of our strategy for building a sustainable business and reflects our deep responsibility to the communities we serve,” says TFG CEO, Anthony Thunström.
In batches from 30 to 60 per cohort, and at a rate of 300 a year, TFG provides learnerships to school leavers and previously unemployed youth to equip them with the skills required to work on a modern clothing production line. At almost 900 workers today, and still growing, the workforce has been built entirely on learnerships, with classes hosted on site as well as the local community hall and at the golf club next door to the factory.
The students start with eight weeks of classroom and initial practical training in a controlled classroom environment before progressing to the factory floor for the remainder of their practical training. Sensitisation to the factory environment is provided for, every Friday in the early stages of their practical training where they are able to refine their skills alongside their future colleagues on the factory floor. Once they have successfully completed their twelve-month learnership, they are awarded with an NQF level-2 qualification with opportunities to further advance their training in Work Integrated Learning and then full-time employment at TFG Prestige Clothing.
Supporting South Africa’s localisation strategy for investment and job creation, TFG’s Prestige Clothing factory equips South African youth with a national qualification and exposure to world-class manufacturing technology and methodologies training them with modern machinery and manufacturing methodology – all within a compliant, industry leading factory environment.
TFG sources 81.6% of clothing locally – within South Africa and the SADC region, and Caledon is just one part of TFG’s broader manufacturing footprint, which now employs close to 5 000 people across the country in owned facilities.
The Caledon factory has the capacity to produce over 4 million garments a year and has recently expanded the range of items made there to include dresses and skirts, whilst continuing its supply of t-shirts and fashion fleece to TFG’s Sportscene brand.
“Ultimately, the Caledon factory supports our quick response model, which relies on local production to allow TFG brands to adapt their lines to market trends at speed, instead of placing an order and then waiting weeks for goods from Asia.
“This minimises overproduction and attracts lower mark-downs on products, contributing to better margins and less waste,” says Jacquii Moriarty, TFG’s head of design and manufacturing.
But, none of the company’s brands are obliged to buy from its factories – they all have to compete on an equal footing with other suppliers in the market. That means the young people in the learnership programme must meet the world-class standards expected of any supplier – showing what is possible for South Africa’s clothing industry with the right investment and training.
Today the factory’s small army of purple-apron clad employees is a familiar sight in Caledon each morning and afternoon as they make their way to and from work, and on Friday afternoons when they finish early to do their weekly shopping. This regular injection of money into the local economy has been a boost for businesses in the town, spreading the economic benefits of the factory throughout the community.
